His latest obsession is with stock and commodities prices. He says that the run up in the two markets cannot be sustained. That is not exactly a minority position, but Roubini's statements seem to get more press than those of most other economists.

According to Bloomberg, Roubini's latest comments came at a conference in Istanbul. Roubini likes to travel and often drops his bombs about the U.S. economy from conferences thousands of miles from American shores. He said, "I see the risk of a correction, especially when the markets now realize that the recovery is not rapid and V-shaped, but more like U- shaped. That might be in the fourth quarter or the first quarter of next year."

Roubini's ability to shock listeners and readers is going away. The notion that the current recession is U-shaped is certainly not new. It may even have become mainstream. It is part of a new family of theories about whether a jobless recovery can be a real recovery and whether an ongoing lack of access to credit will strangle economic improvement.

Roubini thinks the stock market will fail. He may be right, but he is no longer the lone voice of pessimism crying out in the economic wilderness.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.